For years, Ohio authorities have been struggling to find ways to respond to an increase in overdoses associated with opioids. The situation is serious, but the efforts to fight the problem can lead to news headlines and stories that seem designed to frighten the public more than educate them.
For example, when a multi-agency team of law enforcement officers announced a recent drug bust in Montgomery, the quote that got all the attention was from a Department of Homeland Security agent who said that they had seized enough fentanyl “to kill the entire population of Ohio, many times over.”
Fentanyl is an extraordinarily potent opioid, and it gets a lot of media attention. It has been implicated in the accidental deaths of celebrities such as Prince. Perhaps the Homeland Security agent was correct about the power of the fentanyl seized in the drug bust, but that quote, when used in multiple news report headlines, was destined to frighten many Ohio residents. People can make bad decisions when they are frightened.
The epidemic of opioid addiction in Ohio is a complex issue, in terms of public health, law enforcement and prosecution. It can be a serious mistake to oversimplify it.
Everyone who is accused of a crime deserves a defense, and it’s wise for the accused to seek out the best defense attorney they can find. That goes double for people accused of crimes that arouse public fear and outrage.
If you have been accused of a drug crime, speak to an experienced criminal defense attorney as soon as you can about your options to defend your rights and protect your future. If at all possible, speak to a defense attorney before you speak to anyone else about your situation.
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